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AUTHOR: 


MORRIS,  WILLIAM 


TITLE: 


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r949,3G34 

M8  34  Morris,   V/illiam,    1834-1896. 


The  revolt  of  Ghent,        Huddersfield,    The 
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THE    REVOLT 
OF  GHENT 


By  WILLIAM    MORRIS 


HUDDERSFIELD  : 
"THE  WORKER"  OFFICE 

LONDON : 
TWENTIETH   CENTURY    PRESS 

MANCHESTER : 
NATIONAL    LABOUR     PRESS 


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THE  REVOLT  OF  GHENT. 


I. 

|HE  events  of  which  an  account  is 
here  given  took  place  towards  the  ^ 
close  of  the  fourteenth  century 
amongst  a  people  of  kindred  blood 
to  ourselves,  dwelling  not  many 
hours'  journey  (as  we  travel  now) 
from  the  place  where  we  dwell ;  and  yet  to  us 
are  wonderful  enough,  if  we  think  of  them. 

Few  epochs  of  history,  indeed,  are  more 
interesting  than  this  defeated  struggle  to  be  free 
of  the  craftsmen  of  Flanders  ;  whether  we  look 
upon  the  story  as  a  mere  story,  a  "  true  tale  "  of 
the  Middle  Ages  at  their  fullest  development,  rife 
with  all  the  peculiarities  of  the  period,  exemplify- 
ing their  manners  and  customs,  the  forms  that  ^ 
their  industry,  their  religion,  their  heroism  took 
at  the  time  ;  or  whether  we  look  upon  it,  as  some 
of  us  cannot  help  doing,  as  a  link  in  the  great 
chain  of  the  evolution  of  society,  an  incident,  full 
of  instruction,  in  the  class-struggle  which  is  now 
coming  to  be  recognised  as  the  one  hving  fact  in 


1 

t 


6  The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 

the  history  of  the  world  since  civihsation  began, 
and  which  will  only  end  when  civil  society  as  we 
know  it  has  been  transformed  into  something 
else.  Whether  we  look  upon  the  Revolt  of  Ghent 
as  the  story  of  the  past  or  as  a  part  of  our  own 
hves  and  the  battle  which  is  not  wasting,  but 
using  them,  it  is  one  of  the  great  tales  of  the 
world. 

One  piece  of  good  fortune  also  it  has.  that,  as 
Horace  says,  it  has  not  lacked  a  sacred  poet. 
As  the  tale  is  here  told,  its  incidents,  often  the 
very  words  of  them,  are  taken  from  the  writings 
of  one  of  those  men  who  make  past  times  hve 
before  our  eyes  for  ever.  John  Froissart,  canon 
of  Chimay  in  Hainault,  was  indeed  but  a  hanger- 
on  of  the  aristocracy  ;  he  was  in  such  a  position 
as  would  in  our  days  have  prevented  him  on 
principle  from  admitting  any  good  qualities  what- 
ever in  those  people  whom  he  was  helping  to 
oppress;  but  class-lying  was  not  the  fine  art 
which  it  has  since  become ;  and  the  simpler 
habits  of  thought  of  Froissart's  days  gave  people 
intense  delight  in  the  stories  of  deeds  done,  and 
developed  in  them  what  has  been  called  epic 
impartiahty  ;  added  to  which,  one  domain  for 
the  cultivation  of  historical  lies  was  not  available 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  since,  owing  to  the  form  feudal 
society  had  then  taken,  what  we  now  call 
patriotism — i.e.,  national  envy  and  rancour — 
did  not  exist.    Englishman,  Scotsman,  Fleming, 


i 


M 

V 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent.  7 

Spaniard,  Frenchman,  Gascon,  Breton,  are 
treated  by  John  Froissart  as  men  capable  of 
valiancy,  their  deeds  to  be  told  of  and  listened 
to  with  little  comment  of  blame  or  discrimina- 
tion ;  and  I  think  you  will  say  before  you  have 
done  with  him  that  he  could  even  see  the  good 
side  of  the  revolutionary  characters  of  his  time, 
so  long  as  they  were  not  slack  in  noble  deeds. 
The  result  of  a  low  standard  of  morals,  you  will 
say.  Maybe  ;  and  indeed  I  have  noticed  that  a 
would-be  high  standard  of  morality  is  sometimes 
pretty  fertile  of  lying,  because  it  is  so  anxious  that 
every  event  should  square  itself  to  an  a  priori 
theory.  However  that  may  be,  there  is  the  general 
epic  impartiahty  of  the  mediaeval  chronicler 
amidst  all  his  mistakes  and  misconceptions. 

Now  a  word  or  two  as  to  the  political  and  social 
condition  of  Flanders  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
and  then  without  more  to-do  I  will  get  to  my 
story  and  introduce  you  to  John  Froissart,  who 
has  given  me  at  least  as  much  pleasure  as  he  did 
to  any  one  of  the  lords,  ladies,  knights,  squires, 
and  sergeants  who  first  heard  him  read. 

First  very  briefly  as  to  the  political  position  of 
the  country.  Lying  as  it  did  between  the  growing 
monarchy  or  rather  suzerainty  of  France  and 
the  disjointed  members  of  the  *'  Holy  Roman  " 
empire,  it  was  with  the  former  power  that  it  had 
to  deal.  The  rise  of  the  great  cities  of  Flanders  and 
Hainault,  and  the  power  they  could  not  fail  to 


(/ 


/  f 


8 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


4  |f  ^ 


acquire,  made  the  feudal  lord  of  the  country  but 
a  weak  potentate,  and  he  always  had  a  tendency 
to  lean  on  France  for  support.  The  French  king  on 
his  part  was  ambitious  of  making  the  Earl  of 
Flanders  his  vassal,  and  the  help  he  gave  him 
against  his  rebellious  subjects  had  to  be  paid  for 
by  homage  to  the  French  Suzerainty,  or  at  least 
by  promises  of  homage.  France,  therefore,  was 
distinctly  the  enemy  of  the  Flemish  people, 
though  it  was,  when  occasion  served,  the  friend 
of  the  Flemish  feudal  lord.  France  also  could 
strike  a  blow  at  the  prosperity  of  the  country 
without  even  putting  an  army  in  the  field,  by 
forbidding  the  export  of  wool,  the  great  necessity 
to  the  woollen-weaving  which  was  the  main 
industry  of  Flanders,  and  this  was  done  on 
several  occasions. 

Therefore  it  was  natural  for  the  leaders  of  the 
Flemish  people  to  turn  towards  England  as  a 
support,  both  because  there  was  a  standing 
quarrel  between  the  feudal  lords  of  England  and 
France,  and  because  England  was  the  wool- 
producing  country  of  Europe.  On  the  other 
hand,  to  an  English  king  with  a  quarrel  on  hand 
with  a  French  one,  the  advantage  of  the  Flemish 
alliance  was  obvious  enough  ;  and  accordingly  at 
the  beginning  of  the  great  feudal  war  between 
England  and  France  we  find  our  King  Edward 
III.  in  firm  alliance  with  James  van  Artevelde, 
the    leader  of   the    Flemish   people,   or    rather 


'^ 


h 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent.  9 

bourgeoisie,  treaties  made  between  them  as  to 
the  free  passage  of  wool,  and  Queen  Fhihppa, 
godmother  to  the  infant  child  of  the  great 
Bourgeois,  while  the  Earl  of  Flanders  was  hanging 
about  the  French  Court  a  disinherited  lord. 

Now  as  to  the  social  condition  of  the  Flemings. 
Manufacturing  by  handicraft  pure  and  simple, 
without  division  of  labour,  was  carried  by  them 
about  as  far  as  it  could  go  ;  and  the  guild- 
system  was  fully  developed  there,  accompanied 
by  a  complete  municipal  system,  democratic  and 
social  as  far  as  matters  within  the  association 
were  concerned,  though  exclusive  as  regarded  out- 
siders. The  great  towns  of  northern  Europe,  it 
must  be  remembered,  were  not  originally  ''  cities,"  \/ 
sovereign  bodies  with  a  definite  policy  like  those 
of  the  ancient  classical  world.  The  origin  of  them 
was  the  agricultural  district,  the  land  that  gave 
subsistence  to  the  clan,  all  the  free  men  of  which 
took  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  community  ;  the 
first  towns  were  not  as  in  Greece  and  Rome,  the 
sacred  spots  of  the  tribal  ancestor,  but  palisaded 
places  where  convenience  had  made  the  popula- 
tion thicker  than  in  other  parts  of  the  district. 
These  as  they  grew  kept  their  territory,  and 
developed  at  last  within  themselves  an  aristo- 
cratic and  oligarchic  government. 

But  as  these  towns  changed  from  being  mere 
centres  of  an  agricultural  population,  into  being 
places  of  resort  for  handicraftsmen  and  merchants. 


10 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


i    '  > 


and  as  the  associations  for  the  organisation  of 
industry,  that  is  the  guilds,  grew  up  amongst  the 
former,  a  new  democratic  feehng  rose  up  which 
opposed  itself  to  the  remains  of  the  old  tribal 
band  of  freemen,  now  become  a  mere  exclusive 
oligarchy,  who  considered  the  practice  of  handi- 
craft a  disgrace. 

The  new  democracy  triumphed  at  last,  and  by 
the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  guilds,  the 
actual  workmen,  were  the  masters  of  the  great 
towns  ;  under  the  feudal  lords,  however,  to  whom 
they  owed  homage  and  fealty. 

Within  the  guilds  themselves  there  could  be  no 
capitalists  or  great  men,  because  the  rules  of  the 
guilds  were  framed  to  prevent  the  accumulation 
of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few :  the  masters  were 
master  workers,  and  were  kept  so  by  the  rules 
aforesaid. 

I  suspect,  however,  that  there  were  remains 
of  the  old  municipal  aristocracy  (the  lineages, 
as  they  were  called  in  Flanders)  still  in  existence 
in  the  towns ;  otherwise  it  would  not  be  easy  to 
account  for  the  masterful  position  of  James  van 
Artevelde,  and  others  whom  we  shall  meet  with 
later  on  in  our  story,  who  were  certainly  both 
wealthy  and  of  importance,  apart  from  any  office 
they  might  happen  to  hold. 

In  Ghent  also  and  elsewhere,  notably  at  Bruges 
its  rival,  an  aristocracy  of  the  crafts  was  forming, 
as  is  apparent  in  the  fact  of  the  jealousy  between 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


II 


> 


the  greater  and  the  lesser  crafts,*  so  that  if  the 
development  of  commerce  joined  with  the  rise  of 
bureaucratic  monarchy  had  not  supervened  and 
swept  away  the  power  and  freedom  of  the  towns 
altogether,  the  struggle  between  the  municipal 
aristocracy  and  the  craftsmen  would  have  been 
repeated  in,  the  fifteenth  century  in  another 
form. 

Meanwhile,  one  thing  is  to  be  noted,  which  is 
specially  interesting  to  us,  and  that  is  the  visible 
existence  of  strong  Communistic  feeling  along 
with  the  development  of  the  guild  democracy. 

In  the  popular  hterature  of  the  epoch  one  comes 
across  passages  whose  mediaeval  quaintness 
gives  a  pleasant  sense  of  surprise  and  freshness 
to  aspirations  and  denunciations  which  are 
familiar  enough  to  us  Sociahsts  to-day,  and,  so  to 
say,  at  once  make  us  free  of  the  brotherhood  of  the 
old  guildsmen.  The  two  following  centuries 
obliterated  this  feehng,  or  rather  drew  a  dark  veil 
of  misery  and  degradation  over  all  the  feelings 
of  the  working-classes  ;  but  we  now  in  our  hope 
of  better  days  can  look  back  cheerfully  to  the 
times  when  the  craftsman-citizen  of  the  great 
towns  had  his  hope  also,  which  he  hands  over  to 
us  across  the  lapse  of  the  drearier  days. 


L^ 


*  The  lesser  crafts  were  the  weavers  and  fullers,  that  is  to  say, 
the  workmen  of  the  staple  industry  of  the  country. 


IPMipillpiEiir "' 


J 


12 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


i 


Having  thus  very  briefly  told  you  as  to  the 
poHtical  and  social  condition  of  the  great  Flemish 
towns,  I  must  now  get  to  my  story  as  given  by 
Froissart. 

I  have  mentioned  the  English  alliance  with 
James  van  Artevelde,  which  took  place  at  the 
very  beginning  of  the  war  with  France  ;  this 
went  on  till,  at  the  siege  of  Tournay,  by  Edward 
III.,  James  van  Artevelde  sent  sixty  thousand 
men  to  help  that  king  ;  and  in  the  year  1345 
Edward  III.,  lying  at  Sluys,  we  find  Van  Arte- 
velde using  his  influence  to  get  the  Prince  of 
Wales  acknowledged  as  "  Lord  and  Herytour  " 
of  Flanders,  but  the  Councils  of  the  town  hanging 
back  on  the  ground  that  "  there  should  no 
such  untruth  be  found  in  them  as  willingly  to 
disheryte  their  natural  lord  and  his  issue  to 
enheryte  a  stranger."  But  we  can  easily  imagine 
that,  though  glad  enough  of  Edward's  help 
against  France,  they  may  have  been  shy  of 
handing  themselves  over  to  such  a  powerful  king 
as  the  lord  of  England  then  was. 

Anyhow  the  negotiation  came  to  a  tragical  end 
with  the  death  of  James  van  Artevelde  himself. 
He  was  slain  in  a  tumult  at  Ghent  as  a  tyrant 
and  robber  of  the  public  treasure,  after  having 
been  practically  King  of  Flanders  for  nine  years  ; 
and  it  may  be  supposed  that  there  was  some 
genuine  indignation  against  him  for  pressing  on 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


13 


the  people  the  doing  fealty  to  the  English  king, 
though  on  the  whole  the  affair  reads  as  if  it  had 
been  the  work  of  the  French  or  loyalist  party. 

The  Flemings  after  his  death  sent  in  terror  to 
Edward  to  excuse  themselves,  and  suggested, 
says  Froissart,  the  marriage  of  the  King's 
daughter  to  Louis  the  young  Earl.  Edward 
agreed  to  this  readily  enough  ;  but  Louis  had 
another  offer  of  marriage  alliance  from  the  Duke 
of  Brabant,  his  next  neighbour,  which  naturally 
he  much  preferred,  since  it  would  not  cost  him 
the  friendship  of  the  French  king,  on  which,  as 
aforesaid,  it  was  the  natural  policy  of  the  Earls 
of  Flanders  to  lean.  The  Councils  of  the  towns 
as  naturally  stuck  to  the  English  marriage,  and 
urged  it  on  the  Earl  who  had  trusted  himself  to 
Ghent.  "  But  ever  he  said  that  he  wolde  not 
wed  her  whose  father  had  slain  his,  though  he 
might  have  half  the  whole  realm  of  England." 
(His  father  was  slain  at  Crecy.)  The  Flemings 
thereon  put  on  the  screw  by  holding  him  in 
"  courteous  prison."  He  pretended  to  yield,  and 
met  Edward,  who  was  mighty  civil  to  him  ;  but 
watching  his  opportunity,  he  managed  to  escape 
from  his  guards  at  a  hawking  party  and  fled  to 
the  French  king,  by  whom  he  was  well  received. 
This  may  be  considered  the  first  act  of  the 
struggle  between  the  Earl  and  his  subjects. 

The  curtain  rises  again  on  Edward,  an  old  and 
worn  out  man,  and  the  English  Alliance  dimmed 


,^9--,. 


14 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


15 


by  bickerings  between  the  seafarers  of  both 
nations,  ending  at  last  in  a  good  stiff  sea  fight 
between  them  off  the  coast  of  Brittany,  in  which 
the  Flemings  were  defeated.  Edward  threatened 
regular  war  ;  but  the  Flemings  craved  for  peace, 
and  the  treaty  was  renewed. 

After  this  interlude  Froissart  settles  down  with 
great  enjoyment  and  not  a  little  pomp  to  tell  us 
the  story  of  the  great  revolt  in  all  detail. 


III. 

Says  the  old  chronicler  :  "  When  the  tribula- 
tions first  began  in  Flanders,  the  country  was  so 
wealthy  and  so  rich  that  it  was  marvel  to  hear  ; 
and  the  men  of  the  good  towns  kept  such  estate 
that  it  was  wonder  to  hear  tell  of.  But  these 
warres  first  began  by  pride  and  envy  that  the 
good  towns  in  Flanders  had  one  against  another, 
as  they  of  Ghent  against  them  of  Bruges  and 
they  of  Bruges  against  them  of  Ghent,  and  other 
towns  one  against  the  other.  But  there  was  such 
resort  that  no  war  could  rise  among  them  without 
the  Earl  of  Flanders  their  lord  did  consent 
thereto  ;  for  he  was  so  feared  and  beloved  that 
none  durst  displease  him.  .  .  .  For  always 
he  had  lived  in  great  prosperity  and  peace,  and 
had  as  much  pleasure  as  any  other  Christian 
prince  had  ;    but  this  war  began  for  so  hght  a 


^i 


cause  and  incident  that,  justly  to  consider  and 
speak,  if  good  will  and  sage  advice  had  been  in 
the  lord,  he  needed  not  to  have  had  any  manner 
of  war." 

In  short,  the  English  Alliance  had  grown  cold  ; 
the  Earl,  backed  by  the  power  of  the  French 
King,  had  crept  into  power,  and  was  using  the 
jealousy  of  the  great  towns,  and  especially  of 
Ghent  and  Bruges,  as  an  instrument  of  his  own 
advancement,  and  by  this  time  now  felt  himself 
very  strong.  The  fire  was  only  smouldering, 
and  "  the  light  cause  and  incident  "  was  soon 
ready  to  hand  to  make  it  blaze  up  heavens  high. 

Froissart  sees  the  cause  of  quarrel  in  the  feud 
between  two  "  lynages,"  those  of  John  Lyon  and 
Gilbert  Matthew,  both  of  whom  belonged  to  the 
guild  of  the  Mariners,  and  represented  families 
long  at  feud  together. 

Once  again,  as  in  the  case  of  James  van  Arte- 
velde,  we  are  coming  across  rich  and  powerful 
men,  not  belonging  to  the  feudal  aristocracy  ; 
and  I  feel  pretty  sure  that  whatever  guild  of  craft 
they  might  have  belonged  to,  they  must  have 
been  families  surviving  from  the  old  municipal 
aristocracy. 

John  Lyon  was  a  favourite  of  the  Earl,  and 
head  apparently  (for  Froissart  is  somewhat 
vague  here)  of  the  Mariners'  Guild.  Gilbert 
Matthew  lays  an  elaborate  plot  to  overthrow 
him  ;    he  advises  the  Earl  to  lay  a  new  tax  on 


K->:^,-     > 


/ 


i6  The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 

the  mariners.  The  Earl  takes  the  bait  readily  ; 
tells  John  Lyon,  who  demurs  somewhat,  what  is 
toward,  and  calls  a  "  Parlyment  "  to  see  to  the 
matter.  At  the  said  Parlyment,  Gilbert  Matthew 
puts  up  his  brothers  to  speak  against  the  new 
tax  ;  John  Lyon  backs  them  eagerly,  for,  says 
Froissart,  "  he  would  to  his  true  power  mayntain 
them  in  their  old  franchises  and  liberties."  The 
Earl  in  a  rage  turns  out  John  Lyon,  and  puts 
Gilbert  Matthew  in  his  place,  who  gets  him  his 
tax  levied,  but  henceforth  John  Lyon  becomes 
a  popular  leader. 

The  next  cause  of  quarrel  was  between  the 
towns  themselves,  egged  on  doubtless  by  the 
Earl.  "  The  devil  who  never  sleepeth  awaked 
them  of  Bruges  to  dig  about  the  river  of  Lys  to 
have  the  easement  of  the  course  of  the  water, 
and  the  Earl  was  well  accorded  to  them,  and 
sent  great  numbers  of  pioneers  and  men-at-arms 
to  assist  them.  Before  that  in  time  past  they 
would  have  done  the  same,  but  they  of  Ghent  by 
puyssance  brake  their  purpose."  Clearly  the 
Earl  setting  on  the  Brugeois  to  pick  up  an  old 
quarrel  with  Ghent. 

•'  The  tidings  of  these  diggers  increased.  So 
it  was,  there  was  a  woman  that  came  from  her 
pilgrimage  from  our  lady  of  Bolayne  (who  was 
weary),  and  sat  down  in  the  market-place 
whereas  there  were  divers  men,  and  some  of 
them  demanded  of  her  from  whence  she  came. 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


17 


.^.„^ 


She  answered,  '  From  Bolayne,  and  I  have  seen 
by  the  way  the  greatest  mischief  that  ever  came 
to  the  town  of  Ghent,  for  there  be  more  than 
500  pioneers  that  night  and  day  worketh  before 
the  river  of  Lys,  and  if  they  be  not  let  they  will 
shortly  turn  the  course  of  the  water.'  " 

The  townsmen  hunt  up  John  Lyon,  who  has 
been  keeping  very  quiet  since  his  quarrel  with  the 
Earl,  and  after  the  due  amount  of  pressing  he 
gives  them  the  following  advice  :  ''  '  Sirs,  if  ye 
will  adventure  to  remedy  this  matter,  it  behoveth 
that  in  this  town  of  Ghent  ye  renew  an  old 
ancient  custom  that  sometime  was  used  in  this 
town,  and  that  is  that  ye  bring  up  again  the 
White  Hats,  and  that  they  may  have  a  chief 
ruler  to  whom  they  may  draw,  and  by  him  be 
ruled.'  These  words  were  gladly  heard,  and 
they  said  all  with  one  voice,  '  We  will  have  it  so, 
we  will  raise  up  these  White  Hats.'  Then  were 
there  made  White  Hats  which  were  given  and 
delivered  to  such  as  loved  better  to  have  war  than 
peace,  for  they  had  nothing  to  lose." 

You  see  this  points  to  an  earlier  time  in  the 
history  of  the  city,  and  the  raising  of  a  sort  of 
emergency  corps  ;  perhaps  originally  a  kind  of 
bodyguard  of  the  municipal  aristocracy. 

John  Lyon  is  made  Captain  of  the  White  Hoods, 
as  we  should  translate  to-day  Chaperons  Blancs, 
and  their  first  job  is  to  make  an  end  of  the 
digging  of  the  new  canal  by  the  Brugeois  and 


1 8  The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 

their  pioneers,  who  "  left  their  work  and  went 
back  again  to  Bruges,  and  were  never  so  hardy 
to  dig  there  again  "  ;  but  the  White  Hoods  and 
their  captain  hold  together  as  a  regular  insurrec- 
tionary force. 

The  next  scene  is  the  arrest  by  the  Earl's 
Bailiff  of  a  mariner  at  Ecloo,  a  town  half  way 
between  Ghent  and  Bruges,  and  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  Ghent.  The  townsmen  claim  their 
burgess  back  from  the  Bailiff,  who  is  as  high- 
handed as  irresponsibility  can  make  them,  and 
answers,  "  What  needeth  all  these  words  for  a 
maryner  ?  .  .  .  I  have  puissance  to  arrest, 
but  I  have  no  power  to  dehver." 

The  Ghentmen  now  send  an  embassy  to  the 
Earl  (who  is  lying  at  his  manor  of  Male  near 
Bruges)  to  claim  their  burgess.  The  Earl 
promises  to  have  him  released,  and  also  to  mam- 
tain  their  liberties— but  always  on  condition  of 
the  disbanding  of  the  White  Hoods.  However, 
the  prisoner  is  released,  and  the  dykes  of  the  new 
canal  filled  up  ;  the  Earl  apparently  trusting  to 
the  Matthews  for  getting  the  White  Hoods 
disbanded.  But  when  John  Lyon  hears  of  this 
condition,  "  he  spake  and  said  :  '  All  ye  good 
people  that  be  here  present,  ye  know  and  have 
seen  but  late  how  the  White  Hats  hath  better 
kept  your  franchises  than  either  red  or  black 
hats  have  done,  or  of  any  other  colour.  Be  ye 
sure  and  say  that  I  said  it,  as  soon  as  the  White 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


19 


r, 


i 


Hats  be  laid  down  by  the  ordinance  that  the 
Earl  would  have,  I  will  not  give  for  all  your 
franchises  after,  not  three  pence.'  " 

In  short,  the  answer  John  Lyon  makes  is  to 
set  to  work  to  organise  his  White  Hats,  and  bid 
them  be  alert. 

Then  the  Earl  retorts  by  sending  his  said 
Bailiff,  Roger  Dauterne,  with  his  banner  and  200 
men  to  Ghent  to  arrest  John  Lyon  and  five  or 
six  others.  John  Lyon  acts  with  most  praise- 
worthy promptitude,  gathers  400  White  Hoods, 
throws  down  and  tears  the  Earl's  banner,  and 
slays  the  bailiff  in  a  very  orderly  and  peaceable 
manner  :  "  they  touched  no  man  there  but  the 
Bailey  ;  and  when  the  Earl's  men  saw  the  Bailey 
dead,  and  the  banner  all  to  torn,  they  were 
greatly  abashed,  and  so  took  their  horses  and 
voided  out  of  the  town."  The  Matthews  fled 
and  their  houses  are  sacked.  The  White  Hoods 
are  masters  of  Ghent. 

Then  "  the  rich  and  notable  merchants,"  very 
much  scared,  send  off  to  the  Earl  twelve  men  to 
crave  for  peace.  But  meantime  John  Lyon,  who 
was  at  the  Council  where  this  embassy  was 
arranged,  musters  the  White  Hoods  and  those  of 
the  crafts  who  were  on  his  side,  outside  Ghent 
in  a  plain  called  Andreghem,  close  beside  which 
was  a  castle  of  the  Earl's,  newly  built,  and 
doubtless  meant  as  a  garrison  to  overawe  the 
town.     At  this  review  this  said  castle  is  first 


20  The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 

sacked  and  then  burned  by  "an  accident  done 
on  purpose  "  :  John  Lyon  remarking,  in  the  true 
manner  of  a  mediaeval  joke,  "  How  cometh 
yonder  fire  in  my  Lord's  house  ?  " 

The  news  reaches  the  Earl  while  the  embassy 
of  rich  men  are  craving  peace  of  him  ;  and  as  he 
was  particularly  fond  of  this  house,  one  almost 
wonders  that  he  respected  the  safe  conduct 
he  had  given.  One  can  imagine  the  to-do 
there  was ;  the  embassy  of  course  was 
driven  out  ignominiously  (which  of  course 
was  John  Lyon's  intention  in  allowing  the  fire 
to  come  into  my  lord's  house),  and  the  Earl 
declares  war. 

John  Lyon,  clearly  a  very  able  and  resourceful 
man,  immediately  marches  on  to  Bruges  with 
nine  or  ten  thousand  men,  and  gets  in  without 
any  actual  fighting,  the  "rich  man"  being 
cowed  by  the  aspect  of  the  lesser  crafts  ;  and 
the  Brugeois  enter  into  alliance  with  Ghent. 
Courtray  has  already  come  in,  and  Ypres  is 
thought  to  be  friendly  ;  so  that  Flanders  seems 
won  from  the  Earl. 

But  just  at  this  crisis  John  Lyon  dies  at 
Damme,  the  port  of  Bruges;  poisoned,  hints 
Froissart,  which,  considering  the  hatred  of  the 
rich  men  of  Bruges,  is  hkely  enough.  The 
Ghentmen,  however,  are  nothing  daunted,  but 
go  on  organising  themselves  for  war.  They 
chose  for  captains  John  Pruniaux,  John  Bull, 


< 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent.  21 

Rafe  of  HarseUes,  and  Peter  du  Bois*— the  last 
a  very  clever  and  wily  captain  and  leader,  who 
outhved  all  the  leaders  of  Ghent  and  died  in 

England. 

The  Ghentmen  march  on  Thorout  and  Ypres, 
where,  through  the  help  of  the  mean  crafts 
(weavers  and  fullers),  they  win  the  towns,  in 
spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  Earl's  garrisons ; 
and  now,  being  masters  of  the  greater  part  of 
Flanders,  the  rebels  besiege  Oudenarde.  To  give 
you  the  measure  of  strength  oi  these  communities 
of  craftsmen,  I  must  tell  you  that  at  this  siege 
they  mustered  a  hundred  thousand  strong. 

The  Earl  finds  after  all  that  he  is  not  strong 
enough  to  resist  this  union,  and  before  the  town 
is  taken  he  makes  peace  with  the  towns  through 
the  means  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  This  peace 
may  be  said  to  end  the  second  act  of  the  story. 


IV. 

Peace  being  made,  the  Earl  is  rather  shy  of 
Ghent,  and  takes  up  his  quarters  at  Bruges,  no 
doubt  playing  his  old  game  of  setting  the  towns 
against  one  another.  The  citizens  of  Ghent  (one 
may  suppose  the  respectables  chiefly)  are  anxious 


^■t 


*  1  take  the  names  from  Lord  Beraers'  translation  (Henry  8th > 
of  Froissart.  The  two  between  them  make  a  sad  mess  of  the 
names  of  languages  they  do  not  understand. 


22 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


for  their  Feudal  Lord  to  come  amongst  them,  so 
that  they  may  be  sure  that  the  peace  is  really 
kept.  After  much  persuasion,  the  Earl  comes 
ungraciously  enough,  and  the  very  first  thing  he 
says  to  "  the  men  of  the  Law,"  as  Froissart  calls 
them — that  is,  the  municipal  chiefs,  who  go  out 
to  meet  him — is  thus  given  by  Froissart :  "  Sirs, 
good  peace  requireth  nothing  but  peace  ;  and  I 
would  that  these  White  Hats  were  laid  down  and 
amends  made  for  the  death  of  my  Bailey,  for  I 
am  sore  required  therein  of  all  his  lineage." 

Here  is  the  smouldering  fire  stirred  again. 
"  The  men  of  the  Law  "  answer  humbly  enough, 
and  beg  the  Earl  to  come  into  the  great  square 
the  next  day  and  "  preche  to  the  people  "  ;  but 
the  White  Hoods  make  up  their  minds  to  be  part 
of  his  audience.  Well,  he  comes,  and  looks  very 
angrily  at  the  White  Hoods  ;  then  from  a  window 
with  a  red  cloth  before  him  he  makes  a  long  speech 
winding  up  with  a  demand  for  the  disbanding  of 
the  White  Hoods.  "  At  all  these  words  that  he 
spake  before  every  man  held  their  peace  ;  but 
when  he  spake  of  the  White  Hats  there  was  such 
a  murmuring  and  whispering  that  it  might  well 
be  perceived  that  it  was  for  that  cause." 

In  short,  he  took  himself  out  of  the  town  in  a 
day  or  two  in  the  worst  possible  temper. 

The  Ghentmen  did  not  deceive  themselves  as 
to  his  intentions,  and  fell  to  victualling  the  town 
for  a  siege.     Here  Froissart   moralises  :     "  The 


< 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


23 


rich,  sage,  and  notable    persons    cannot    excuse 
themselves  of  these  deeds  at  the  beginning.     For 
when   John  Lyon  first  began  to  bring  up  the 
White   Hats  they  might  have  caused  them  to 
have  been  laid  down  if  they  had  lyst,  and  have 
sent  other  manner  of  persons  against  the  pioneers 
of  Bruges  than  they  ;  but  they  suffered  it  because 
they  would  not  meddle,  nor  be  in  no  busmess  nor 
press.     All  this  they  did  and  consented  to  be 
done,  the  which  after  they  dearly  bought,  and 
specially  such  as  were  rich  and  wise  :    for  after, 
they  were  no  more  lords  of  themselves,  nor  they 
durst  not  speak,  nor  do  anything  but  as  they  of 
Ghent  would.     For  they  (the  men  of  Ghent)  said 
that    neither    for    John    Lyon    nor    for    Gilbert 
Matthew  nor  for  their  wars  nor  broiles  they  would 
never  depart  asunder  ;   for  whatsoever  war  there 
were  between  one  or  other  they  would  ever  be 
all  one,  and  ever  ready  to  defend  the  franchises 
of  their  town.     The  which  was  well  seen  after  ; 
for  they  made  war  which  endured  seven  years  ; 
in  the  which  time  there  was  never  strife  among 
them  in  the  town  :    and  that  was  the  thing  that 
sustained  and  kept  them  most  of  anything,  both 
within  and  without :    they  were  in  such  unity 
that  there  was  no  distance  among  them,  as  ye 
shall  hear  after  in  this  history." 

An  outrage  and  reprisals  follow.  The  kindred 
of  Roger  Dauterne,  the  slain  Bailey,  come  upon 
forty  ships  of  the  Ghentmen  in  the  Scheld,  and 


0 


24 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


put  out  the  eyes  of  the  mariners  and  maim  them, 
and  so  send  them  home  to  Ghent.  In  return  for 
this  horror  John  Pruniaux,  Captain  of  the  White 
Hoods,  marches  suddenly  on  Oudenarde  and 
beats  down  the  two  towers  and  gates  of  that 
town  looking  toward  Ghent  and  the  wall  between 
them.  The  Earl  of  course  is  or  feigns  to  be 
greatly  enraged  ;  though  the  rulers  of  Ghent 
refuse  to  avow  the  deed  ;  but  after  some  coming 
and  going  a  sort  of  peace  is  patched  up  again  ; 
Oudenarde  is  given  up  by  the  Ghentmen,  John 
Pruniaux  on  the  one  side  and  the  maimers  of  the 
mariners  on  the  other  side  are  banished  :  and 
on  these  terms  of  peace  the  curtain  falls  again. 

It  rises  on  a  lordly  act  of  dastardliness  on  the 
part  of  the  Earl,  who  gets  John  Pruniaux 
delivered  to  him  by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  and 
strikes  off  his  head.  Also,  *'  Then  the  Earl  went 
to  Ypres  and  did  here  great  justice,  and  beheaded 
many  evil-ruled  people  such  as  had  been  at  the 
death  of  his  five  Knights  there  slain  and  had 
opened  the  gates  to  them  of  Ghent." 

This  lordly  fashion  of  keeping  the  peace  was 
not  well  seen  to  by  the  Ghentmen,  and  the  war 
began  again  more  sternly  than  ever,  and  also 
now  took  more  definitely  the  aspect  of  a  class 
struggle.  "  Then  Peter  du  Bois*  said  :  Sirs,  if 
ye  will  believe  me  there  shall  not  a  house  stand 
upright  of  never  a  gentleman  in   the  country 

*  Peter  Bush  would  be  his  due  English  name. 


! 


■< 


■'i 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


25 


about  Ghent.  .  .  .  That,  is  truth,  said  all  the 
other.   Let  us  go  forth  and  beat  them  all  down." 

Which  was  not  a  mere  flourish  of  speech,  as 
the  White  Hoods,  who  are  now  identified  with  the 
town  of  Ghent,  set  to  work  at  once  ;  so  that 
'*  when  the  gentlemen  knights  and  squires  being 
at  Lysle  with  the  Earl  and  thereabout  heard 
tidings  how  their  houses  were  burnt  and  beaten 
down,  they  were  right  sore  displeased,  and  not 
without  good  cause."  In  short,  the  Earl  let 
loose  his  chivalry  on  Ghent,  his  bastard  son  the 
Hase  of  Flanders  at  their  head,  and  there  was 
plenty  of  hard  skirmishing  after  the  fashion  of 
the  time. 

The  Ghentmen  for  their  part  summoned  their 
vassals  *'  the  knights  and  squires  of  Heynault  " 
to  come  and  do  them  service  for  their  holdings 
under  pain  of  forfeiture  ;  as  also  their  Constable 
or  Burgrave,  Herve  Dantoing.  It  was  a  matter 
of  course  that  the  gentlemen  did  not  come,  and 
that  the  Constable  sent  an  insolent  and  threaten- 
ing answer.  The  Ghentmen  retorted  by  destroy- 
ing the  houses  of  their  disobedient  vassals,  who 
had  legally  forfeited  their  rights.  This  incident 
is  a  curious  illustration  of  the  mediaeval  status  : 
the  burgesses  of  Ghent  who  were  not  noble,  yet 
in  their  collective  capacity  could  claim  the 
services  of  noblemen,  who  held  lands  under 
feudal  service  to  the  town,  and  legally  punish 
them  for  disobedience. 


i-At--.  ../■JtMMia.fa^-  jtaA  t.ij>!A.a!:iet,^ 


i 


26 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


27 


^ 


Well,  on  the  part  of  Ghent  the  war  went  on 
briskly  enough  ;    but  though  they  were  still  in 
nominal  alhance  with  the  other  cities,  yet  in  the 
latter,  and  especially  in  Bruges,  the  mean  crafts 
had  not  the  same  power  as  in  Ghent,  and  any 
defeat  was  certain  to  detach  Bruges,  and  likely 
to  detach  Ypres  and  Courtray  from  the  popular 
cause.     Bruges  fell  off  first ;  there  was  a  struggle 
between  the  respectables  and  the  mean  crafts  in 
the  town,  in  which  the  former  were  victorious, 
and  they  at  once  sent  to  invite  the  Earl  among 
them.     To  Bruges  he  came,  nothing  loth.     "  At 
the  Earl's  coming  were  taken  all  the  principals  of 
them  that  had  their  hearts  Ghentoise,  and  such 
as  were  suspect,  and  so  were  put  in  prison  more 
than  500,  and  little  by  httle  their  heads  were 
stricken    off."     After    this    stroke    of    resolute 
government  Bruges  became  the  headquarters  of 
the  Earl,  and  the  war  began  to  go  heavily  against 
the  Ghentmen. 

The  Earl  marched  with  a  considerable  army  to 
attack  Thorout  and  Ypres,  and  the  Ghentmen 
sent  two  bodies  of  men  for  the  relief  of  those 
towns  under  the  command  of  Peter  du  Bois, 
John  Bull,  and  Arnold  Clarke.  But  the  affair 
was  ill-managed  ;  the  two  corps  missed  support- 
ing each  other,  and  that  commanded  by  John 
Bull  fell  into  an  ambuscade,  and  one  of  those 
curious  mediaeval  routs  took  place,  which  some 


•( 


of  us  may  the  better  understand  after  the  sights 
of  Bloody  Sunday  [November  11,  1887]. 

Peter  du  Bois,  cool  and  wary  as  usual,  held  his 
men  together  and  retreated  to  Ghent ;  but  the 
fugitives  from  John  Bull's  corps,  who  with  him 
had  got  into  Courtray,  in  their  rage  and  terror 
slew  their  captain,  and  both  Ypres  and  Courtray 
fell.  The  Earl  massacred  700  of  the  mean  crafts 
in  Ypres  "  to  encourage  the  others,"  and  sent  off 
300  hostages  to  prison  in  Bruges,  and  afterwards 
200  from  Courtray.  3,000  of  the  Ghentois  fell 
in  the  combat  before  Ypres. 

The  Earl  then  besieged  Ghent,  but  loosely 
enough,  as  the  Ghentmen  were  able  to  get  supplies 
from  Brussels,  Brabant,  and  Liege,  and  generally 
from  the  whole  country  behind  them,  where  the 
people  were  in  complete  sympathy  with  the 
rebels,  especially  in  Liege. 

A  sharp  combat  took  place  before  Nivelles, 
where  the  Ghentmen  were  again  defeated,  with 
the  loss  of  two  of  their  captains,  Rafe  of  Harselles, 
a  man  of  noble  blood,  and  John  Launoy.  Of 
this  matter  Froissart,  teUing  how  the  Ghentmen 
retreated  into  the  church  at  Nivelles,  says : 
"  John  de  Launoy,  all  abashed  and  discomforted, 
entered  into  the  minster  to  save  himself,  and 
went  into  the  steeple,  and  such  of  his  company 
as  could  get  in  with  him,  and  Rafe  de  Harselles 
abode  behind  him  and  recoiled  his  company,  and 
did  great  feats  of  arms  at  the  door,  but  finally  he 


V 


28 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


was  stricken  with  a  long  pike  through  the  body 
and  so  slain.  Thus  ended  Rafe  of  Harselles, 
who  had  been  a  great  captain  in  Ghent  against 
the  Earl ;  and  the  Ghentois  loved  him  greatly 
because  of  his  wisdom  and  prowess,  but  for  his 
valiantness  this  was  his  end  and  reward." 

The  Earl  bade  his  men  set  fire  to  the  church, 
and  I  give  you  the  end  of  this  tragedy  in  Frois- 
sart's  own  words  as  a  dreadful  httle  picture  of 
medieval  war  :    "  Fire,  faggots,  and  straw  were 
set  together  round  about  the  church  ;    the  fire 
anon  mounted  up  to  the  covering  of  the  minster. 
There  died  the  Ghentois  in  great  pain,  for  they 
were  burnt  quick,  and  such  as  issued  out  were 
slain  and  cast  again  into  the  fire.     John  Launoy 
who  was  in  the  steeple,  seeing  himself  at  the 
point  to  be  burnt,  cried  to  them  without  '  Ran- 
som !   Ransom  ! '   and  offered  his  coat,  which  was 
full  of  florins,  to  save  his  Hfe.    But  they  without 
did  but  laugh  and  scorn  at  him,  and  said  to  him, 
*  John,  come  out  at  some  window  and  speak  with 
us,  and  we  shall  receive  you  ;  make  a  leap  in  Hke 
wise  as  ye  have  made  some  of  us  leap  within  this 
year  ;  it  behoveth  you  to  make  this  leap.'   When 
John  Launoy  saw  himself  in  that  point,  and  that 
he  was  without  remedy  and  that  the  fire  took  him 
so  near,  that  he  saw  well  he  should  be  burnt,  he 
thought  it  were  better  for  him  to  be  slain  than 
to  be  burnt,  and  so  he  leapt  out  at  a  window 
among  his  enemies  ;    and  there  he  was  received 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


29 


I 


1 


< 


on  spears  and  swords  and  cut  all  to  pieces.   Thus 
ended  John  Launoy." 

Peter  du  Bois  was  posted  so  badly  at  this 
battle  that  he  was  kept  by  a  marsh  from  helping. 
He  once  more  drew  off,  and  got  into  Ghent  in 
good  order,  and  it  was  a  near  thing  that  he  did 
not  share  the  fate  of  John  Bull  at  the  hands  of 
the  enraged  people.  But  after  all  the  Earl 
raised  the  siege  and  went  back  to  Bruges. 
Skirmishing,  however,  still  went  on,  and  the 
Ghentois,  after  some  successes,  had  another 
body  of  men  cut  up,  1,100  out  of  1,200,  says 
Froissart,  and  Arnold  Clarke  slain. 


Says  the  old  chronicler  :  "  When  Philip  van 
Artevelde  and  his  company  entered  again  into 
Ghent,  a  great  number  of  the  common  people, 
desiring  nothing  but  peace,  were  right  joyful  of 
their  coming,  trusting  to  hear  some  good  tidings  ; 
they  came  against  him,  and  could  not  restrain, 
but  demanded  tidings,  saying,  *  Ah,  dear  sir, 
Philip  van  Artevelde,  rejoice  us  with  some  good 
word,  let  us  know  how  ye  have  sped  '  :  to  which 
demands  PhiHp  gave  none  answer,  but  passed  by, 
holding  down  his  head.  The  more  he  held  his 
peace,  the  more  the  people  followed  him,  pressing 
to  hear  some  tidings  ;    and  once  or  twice  as  he 


a  \ 


30 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


r 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


31 


rode  to  his  lodging  ward,  he  said  to  them  that 
followed  him,  '  Sirs,  return  to  your  houses  :  for 
this  day  God  help  you,  and  to-morrow  at  nine 
of  the  clock  come  into  the  market  place,  and 
then  ye  shall  hear  the  tidings  that  I  can  show 
you.'  Other  answer  could  they  have  none  of 
him,  whereof  every  man  was  greatly  abashed. 

"  And  when  Philip  van  Ardevelde  was  aUghting 
at  his  lodging,  and  such  as  had  followed  him  had 
been  at  Tournay  with  him,  and  every  man  gone 
to  their  own  lodgings,  then  Peter  du  Bois,  who 
desired  to  hear  some  tidings,  came  in  the  evening 
to  Phihp's  house,  and  so  then  they  two  went 
together  into  a  chamber  ;  then  Peter  demanded 
of  him  how  he  had  sped,  and  Philip,  who  would 
hide  nothing  from  him,  said,  '  By  my  faith,  Peter, 
by  that  the  Earl  of  Flanders  hath  answered  by 
his  council  sent  to  Tournay,  he  will  take  no 
manner  of  person  within  the  town  of  Ghent  to 
mercy,  no  more  one  than  another.'  '  By  my 
faith,'  quoth  Peter,  '  to  say  the  truth,  he  doth  but 
right  to  do  so  ;  he  is  well  counselled  to  be  of  that 
opinion,  for  they  be  all  partakers  as  well  one  as 
another  ;  now  the  matter  is  come  even  after  mine 
intent,  and  also  it  was  the  intent  of  my  good 
master  John  Lyon  that  is  dead  ;  for  now  the  town 
will  be  so  troubled,  that  it  will  be  hard  ever  to 
appease  it  again.  Now  it  is  time  to  take  bridle 
in  the  teeth  ;  now  it  shall  be  seen  who  is  sage  and 
who  is  hardy  in  the  town  of  Ghent.  Either  shortly 


1     I 


Ilk:-,.    .,„■""  ^ 


the  town  of  Ghent  shall  be  the  most  honoured 
town  in  Christendom,  or  else  the  most  desolate. 
At  the  least,  if  we  die  in  this  quarrel,  we  shall  not 
die  all  alone  ;  therefore  Phihp,  remember  yourself 
well  this  night  how  ye  may  make  relation  to- 
morrow to  the  people  of  the  determination  of  your 
council  holden  now  at  Tournay,  and  that  ye  may 
show  it  in  such  manner  that  the  people  may  be 
content  with  you  ;  for  ye  have  already  the  grace 
of  the  people,  for  two  causes  ;  one  is,  because  of 
your  name,  for  sometimes  James  van  Artevelde, 
your  father,  was  marvellously  well  beloved  ;  the 
other  cause  is,  ye  entreat  the  people  meekly  and 
sagely,  as  the  common  saying  is  throughout  the 
town,  wherefore  the  people  will  beheve  you  to  hve 
or  die  ;  and  at  the  end  show  them  your  counsel, 
and  say  how  ye  will  do  thus,  and  they  will  all  say 
the  same.  Therefore  it  behoveth  you  to  take  good 
advice  in  showing  words,  whereon  lieth  your 
honour.'  '  Truly,'  quoth  Phihp,  '  ye  say  truth, 
and  I  trust  so  to  speak  and  show  the  business  of 
Ghent,  that  we  who  are  now  governors  and 
captains  shall  either  live  or  die  with  honour.' 
So  thus  they  departed  for  that  night  each  from 
other  :  Peter  du  Bois  went  home  to  his  house, 
and  Philip  van  Artevelde  abode  still  in  his. 

"  Ye  may  well  know  and  believe  that  when  the 
day  desired  was  come  that  Phihp  van  Artevelde 
should  generally  report  the  effect  of  the  council 
holden  at  Tournay,  all  the  people  of  the  town  of 


If  '■■■ 


^g^gig^i^gtggt^^^/ui^mti 


32 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


33 


Ghent  drew  them  to  the  market  place  on  a  Wed- 
nesday morning  ;  and  about  nine  of  the  bell  Philip 
van  Artevelde,  Peter  du  Bois,  Peter  de  Nuitre, 
Francis  Atreman,  and  other  captains  came  hither, 
and  entered  up  into  the  common  hall.  Then  PhiHp 
leaned  out  at  a  window  and  began  to  speak,  and 

said — 

*'  '  0,  all  ye  good  people,  it  is  of  truth  that  at  the 
desire  of  the  right  honourable  lady,  my  lady  of 
Brabant,  and  the  right  noble  duke  Albert,  baihff 
of  Hainault.  Holland,  and  Zealand,  and  of  my 
lord  the  bishop  of  Liege,  there  was  a  council 
agreed  and  accorded  to  be  at  Tournay.  and  thereat 
to  be  personally  the  Earl  of  Flanders  ;  and  so  he 
certified  to  these   said  lords,   who  have   nobly 
acquitted  themselves  :  for  they  sent  thither  right 
notable  councillors,  and  knights  and  burgesses  of 
good  towns  ;    and  so  they  and  we  of  this  good 
town  of  Ghent  were  there  at  the  day  assigned, 
looking  and  abiding  for  the  Earl  of  Flanders  ;  who 
came  not  nor  would  not  come  ;    and  when  they 
saw  that  he  came  not  nor  was  not  coming,  then 
they  sent  to  him  to  Bruges  three  knights  for  the 
three  countries,  and  burgesses  for  the  good  towns  ; 
and  they  travailed  so  much  for  our  sakes  that  they 
went  to  him  to  Bruges,  and  there  they  found  him 
who  made  them  great  cheer  (as  they  said)  and 
heard  weU  their  message  ;  but  he  answered  them 
and  said,  that  for  the  honour  of  their  lords,  and 
for  the  love  of  his  sister  the  lady  of  Brabant 


yi 


1 


(he  said)  he  would  send  his  council  to  Tournay 
within  five  or  six  days  after,  so  well  instructed  by 
him  that  they  should  plainly  show  the  full  of  his 
intention  and  mind.  Other  answer  could  they 
none  have,  and  so  they  returned  again  to  us  at 

Tournay. 

"  *  And  then  the  day  assigned  by  therle  came 
fro  him  to  Tournai  the  lord  of  Ranessels,  the  lord 
of  Gountris.  sir  John  Villayns,  and  the  provost  of 
Harlebeke  ;  and  there  they  showed  graciously 
their  lord's  will,  and  certain  arrest  of  this  war, 
how  the  peace  might  be  had  between  the  Earl  and 
the  town  of  Ghent,  except  prelates  of  churches  and 
rehgions,  all  that  be  above  the  age  of  fifteen  year 
and  under  the  age  of  sixty,  that  they  all  in  their 
shirts,  bare  headed  and  bare  footed,  with  halters 
about  their  necks,  avoid  the  town  of  Ghent,  and 
so  go  a  twelve  mile  thence  into  the  plain  of 
Burlesquans,  and  there  they  shall  meet  the  Earl 
of  Flanders,  accompanied  with  such  as  shall  please 
him  ;  and  so  when  he  seeth  us  in  that  case,  holding 
up  our  hands  and  crying  for  mercy,  then  he  shall 
have  pity  and  compassion  on  us  if  it  please  him. 
But,  sirs,  I  cannot  know  by  the  relation  of  any 
of  his  council  but  that  by  shameful  punition  of 
justice  there  shall  suffer  death  the  most  part  of  the 
people  that  shall  appear  there  that  day.  Now,  sirs, 
consider  well  if  ye  will  come  to  peace  by  this  means 

or  not.' 

"  When  Philip  van  Artevelde  had  spoken  these 


34 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


words,  it  was  a  great  pity  to  see  men,  women,  and 
children  weep,  and  wring  their  hands  for  love  of 
their  fathers,  brethren,  husbands,  and  neigh- 
bours. And  after  this  tournament  and  noise, 
Phihp  van  Artevelde  began  to  speak  and  said, 
'  Peace,  sirs,  peace,'  and  incontinent  every  man 
was  still.   Then  he  began  to  speak,  and  said — 

"  '  Ah,  ye  good  people  of  Ghent,  ye  be  here  now 
assembled  the  most  part,  and  ye  have  heard  what 
I  have  said.  Sirs,  I  see  none  other  remedy  but 
short  counsel,  for  ye  know  well  what  necessity 
we  be  in  for  lack  of  victual ;  I  am  sure  there  be 
thirty  thousand  in  this  town  that  did  eat  no  bread 
this  fifteen  days  passed.  Sirs,  of  three  things  we 
must  of  necessity  do  the  one.  The  first  is,  if  ye 
will,  let  us  enclose  ourselves  in  this  town,  and 
mure  up  all  our  gates,  and  then  confess  us  clean  to 
God,  and  let  us  enter  into  the  churches  and 
minsters,  and  so  let  us  die  for  famine  repentant 
of  our  sins  like  martyrs,  and  such  people  as  no 
man  will  have  mercy  of.  Yet  in  this  estate  God 
shall  have  mercy  of  our  souls,  and  it  shall  be  said 
in  every  place  where  it  shall  be  heard,  that  we  be 
dead  valiantly,  and  like  true  people. 

"  *  Or  else,  secondly,  let  us  all,  men,  women,  and 
children,  go  with  halters  about  our  necks  in  our 
shirts,  and  cry  mercy  to  my  lord  the  Earl  of 
Flanders  ;  I  think  his  hearts  will  not  be  so  indur- 
ate (as  when  he  seeth  us  in  that  estate)  but  that 
his  heart  will  mollify  and  take  mercy  on  his  people  ; 


i 

111 

) 


\i 


[V3  4"' 


i 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


35 


and  as  for  myself,  I  will  be  the  first  of  all  to 
appease  his  displeasure  ;  I  shall  present  my  head 
and  be  content  to  die  for  them  of  Ghent. 

"  '  Or  else,  thirdly,  let  us  choose  out  in  this  town 
five  or  six  thousand  men  of  the  most  able  and  best 
appointed,  and  let  us  go  hastily  and  assail  the 
Earl  at  Bruges,  and  fight  with  him  ;  and  if  we  die 
in  this  voyage,  at  the  least  it  shall  be  honourable, 
and  God  shall  have  pity  of  us,  as  anciently  he  put 
his  puissance  into  the  hands  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
duke  and  master  of  his  chivalry,  by  whom  the 
Assyrians  were  discomfited,  then  shall  we  be 
reputed  the  most  honourable  people  that  hath 
reigned  sith  the  days  of  the  Romans. 

"  '  Now,  sirs,  take  good  heed  which  of  these 
three  ways  ye  will  take,  for  one  of  them  must  ye 
needs  take.' 

"  Then  such  as  were  next  him,  and  had  heard 
him  best,  said  :  *  Ah,  sir,  all  we  have  our  trust  in 
you  to  counsel  us,  and,  sir,  look  as  ye  counsel  us, 
so  shall  we  follow.' 

"  *  By  my  faith,'  quoth  PhiHp,  *  then  I  counsel 
you  ;  let  us  go  with  an  army  of  men  against  the 
Earl ;  we  shall  find  him  at  Bruges  ;  and  as  soon 
as  he  shall  know  of  our  coming  he  will  issue  out 
to  fight  with  us,  by  the  pride  of  them  of  Bruges, 
and  of  such  as  be  about  him,  who  night  and  day 
informeth  and  stirreth  him  to  fight  with  us  ;  and 
if  God  will  by  his  grace  that  we  have  the  victory, 
and   discomfit   our   enemies,    then   shall   we   be 


_.  A  .4 


36 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


recovered  for  ever,  and  the  most  honoured  people 
of  the  world  ;  and  if  we  be  discomfited,  we  shall 
die  honourably,  and  God  shall  have  pity  of  us, 
and  thereby  all  the  other  people  in  Ghent  shall 
escape,  and  the  Earl  will  have  mercy  on  them.' 

"  And  therewith  they  all  answered  with  one 
voice,  '  We  will  do  this,  we  will  do  this,  we  will 
make  none  other  end.' 

"  Then  Phihp  answered  and  said,  '  Sirs,  if  it 
be  your  wills  to  do  thus,  then  return  home  to  your 
houses,  and  make  ready  your  harness,  for  to- 
morrow sometime  of  the  day  I  will  that  we  depart 
out  of  Ghent  and  go  towards  Bruges,  for  the 
abiding  here  is  nothing  for  us  profitable  ;  and 
within  five  days  we  shall  know  if  we  die  or  live 
with  honour,  and  I  shall  send  the  constables  of 
every  parish  from  house  to  house,  to  choose  out 
the  most  able  and  best  appointed  men.' 

"  In  this  estate  every  man  departed  out  of  the 
market-place,  and  made  them  ready  ;  and  this 
Wednesday  they  kept  the  town  so  close,  that 
neither  man  nor  woman  entered  nor  issued  out 
of  the  town  till  the  Thursday  in  the  morning,  that 
every  man  was  ready,  such  as  should  depart  ;  and 
they  were  to  the  number  of  five  thousand  men, 
and  not  past,  and  they  had  with  them  two  hun- 
dred cars  of  ordnance  and  artillery,  and  but  seven 
carts  of  victual,  five  of  biscuit  bread,  and  two 
tun  of  wine,  for  in  all  they  had  but  two  tun,  and 
left  no  more  behind  them  in  the  town. 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


37 


i 


"  This  was  a  hard  departing,  and  they  that  were 
left  behind  were  hardly  bested.  It  was  a  pity  to 
behold  them  that  went  forth,  and  they  that  abode 
behind  said  to  them,  '  Sirs,  now  at  your  departure, 
ye  know  what  ye  leave  behind  you,  but  never 
think  to  come  hither  again  without  ye  come  with 
honour  ;  for  if  it  be  otherwise,  ye  shall  find  here 
nothing  ;  for  as  soon  as  we  hear  tidings,  that  ye 
be  either  slain  or  discomfited,  we  shall  set  the  town 
a-fire  and  destroy  ourselves  like  people  despaired.' 

"  Then  they  that  went  forth  said  to  comfort 
them.  '  Sirs,  pray  to  God  for  us,  for  we  trust  he 
shall  help  us  and  you  also,  or  we  return  again.' 

'*  Thus    these    five    thousand    departed    from 

Ghent    with    their    small    provision;     and    that 

Thursday  they  went  and  lay  a  mile  without  Ghent 

and  brake  not  up  their  provision,  but  passed  that 

night  with  such  things  as  they  found  abroad  in 

the  country  ;  and  the  Friday  they  went  forth,  not 

touching  as  yet  their  victual,  for  the  foragers  found 

somewhat  in  the  country,  wherewith  they  passed 

that  day,  and  so  lodged  a  seven  mile  from  Bruges, 

and  there  rested  and  took  a  place  of  ground  at 

their  device,  abiding  their  enemies  ;    and  before 

them  there  was  a  great  plash  of  standing  water, 

wherewith  they  fortified  themselves  on  the  one 

part,  and  on  the  other  part  with  their  carriages. 

And  so  they  passed  that  night. 

"  And  when  it  came  to  the  Saturday  in  the 
morning,  the  weather  was  fair  and  clear,  and  a 


^ •'  >.cM^ 


r 


38 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


holiday  called  in  Bruges,  for  that  day  of  custom 
they  made  processions.  Then  tidings  came  to 
them  how  the  Ghentois  were  come  thither.  And 
then  ye  should  have  seen  great  murmurings  in 
Bruges,  so  that  at  last  word  thereof  came  to  the 
Earl  and  to  his  company,  whereof  the  Earl  had 
great  marvel,  and  said,  '  Behold  yonder  un- 
gracious people  of  Ghent,  I  trow  the  devil  hath 
brought  them  to  their  destruction  ;  now  is  the 
time  come  to  have  an  end  of  this  way.' 

"  And  so  then  his  knights  and  squires  came  to 
him,  and  he  received  them  graciously,  and  said 
to  them,  '  We  shall  go  and  fight  with  yonder  un- 
happy people  of  Ghent.  Yet,'  quoth  the  Earl, 
'  they  had  rather  die  by  the  sword  than  by 
famine.' 

"  Then  the  Earl  was  counselled  to  send  three 
men  of  arms  into  the  field  to  see  the  demeanour  of 
his  enemies.  And  so  then  the  marshal  of  Flanders 
appointed  out  three  squires,  valiant  men  of  arms, 
to  go  and  see  the  behaving  of  the  Ghentois. 

"  As  Lambert  of  Lambres,  Damas  of  Buffey, 
and  John  of  Beart ;  and  so  they  three  departed 
from  Bruges,  and  rode  towards  their  enemies. 
And  in  the  meantime,  while  these  three  went  forth, 
they  of  Bruges  made  them  ready  to  issue  out  to  go 
and  fight  with  the  Ghentois.  Of  whom  I  shall  show 
somewhat  of  their  order." 


%..f 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 
VI. 


39 


Froissart  goes  on  to  say  : — 

"  This  Saturday  in  the  morning  Philip  van 
Artevelde  ordained  and  commanded  that  every 
man  should  make  him  ready  to  God,  and  caused 
masses  to  be  sung  in  divers  places  by  certain  friars 
that  were  with  him  ;  and  so  every  man  confessed 
him,  and  prayed  to  God  for  grace  and  mercy.  And 
there  were  certain  sermons  made,  enduring  an 
hour  and  a  half ;  and  there  it  was  showed  to 
people  by  these  friars  and  clerks,  figuring  them  to 
the  people  of  Israel,  whom  King  Pharaoh  kept 
long  in  servitude  ;  and  how  after  by  the  grace  of 
God  they  were  delivered,  and  led  into  the  Land  of 
Behest  by  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  King  Pharaoh 
and  the  Egyptians  slain  and  taken.  *  In  hkewise,* 
quoth  these  friars,  '  ye  good  people,  ye  be  kept  in 
servitude  by  your  lord  the  Earl  of  Flanders,  and  by 
your  neighbours  of  Bruges,  before  whom  now  ye 
be  come,  and  shall  be  fought  with  by  all  likeli- 
hood, for  your  enemies  have  great  will  to  fight 
with  you,  for  they  fear  Httle  your  puissance. 
But,  sirs,  take  no  heed  to  that,  for  God,  who 
knoweth  and  seeth  all  things,  shall  have  mercy  on 
you.  Nor  think  nothing  of  that  ye  have  left 
behind  you,  for  ye  may  well  know  that  it  is  with- 
out recoverance  if  ye  be  discomfited,  therefore  sell 
your  hves  valiantly,  and  die  if  there  be  none  other 
remedy  honourably.  And  be  not  dismayed  if  great 


I 


40 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent, 


puissance  of  people  issue  out  of  Bruges  against 
you,  for  victory  lieth  not  in  puissance  of  people, 
but  it  is  all  only  God  ;  and  by  his  grace  it  hath 
been  oftentimes  seen,  as  well  by  the  Maccabees 
as  by  the  Romans,  that  a  small  people  of  good 
will,  trusting  in  the  grace  of  God,  hath  discomfited 
a  great  number  of  people  ;  and,  sirs,  in  this 
quarrel  ye  have  good  right  and  a  just  cause,  and 
therefore  by  many  reasons  ye  ought  to  be  hardy 
and  of  good  comfort.' 

"  Thus  with  such  words  and  other  these  friars 
preached  to  the  people  that  morning,  wherewith 
they  were  well  content.  And  three  parts  of  the 
host  were  houselled,  showing  themselves  to  have 
great  trust  in  God.  And  after  these  masses  sung, 
then  they  assembled  together  on  a  httle  hill, 
and  there  Philip  van  Artevelde,  by  great  sentence, 
showed  them  from  point  to  point,  the  right  that 
they  thought  they  had  in  their  quarrel ;  and  how 
that  often  times  the  town  of  Ghent  had  required 
their  lord  the  Earl  to  have  mercy  on  them  ;  but 
they  could  never  come  to  no  point  with  him,  but 
to  the  great  confusion  and  damage  of  the  town  of 
Ghent,  and  to  the  inhabitants  thereof ;  also  say- 
ing, how  they  were  then  come  so  far  forth,  that  to 
recoil  again  they  could  not ;  and  also  then  to 
return  (all  things  considered)  they  could  win 
nothing  thereby,  for  they  had  left  nothing  behind 
them  but  poverty  and  heaviness  ;  and,  more- 
over, he  said,  *  sirs,  think  neither  of  your  wives 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


41 


i 


i 


k 


t,  I. ^ 


nor  children,  but  think  of  your  honour.'  Thus 
such  fair  words  Philip  van  Artevelde  showed 
among  them,  for  he  was  well  languaged,  and  could 
speak  right  well,  and  well  it  became  him  ;  and 
finally  he  said,  *  Now,  fair  lords,  let  us  truly  and 
equally  depart  our  victual  each  to  other  like 
brethren  without  any  manner  of  outrage  ;  for 
when  this  is  spent,  it  must  behove  us  to  seek  for 
new,  if  we  think  to  live." 

**  And  so  then  right  humbly  the  carts  were  dis- 
charged, and  the  bread  was  divided  by  the  con- 
stables, and  the  two  tuns  of  wine,  the  bottoms 
were  set  upward  ;  and  so  there  they  dined  with 
the  bread  and  with  the  wine,  and  were  content 
with  their  small  repast  for  that  time,  and  felt 
themselves  better  disposed,  both  in  courage  and  in 
their  members,  than  and  they  had  eaten  more 
meat. 

"  And  when  this  dinner  was  past,  then  they  set 
themselves  in  order,  and  drew  themselves  within 
their  ribaudeaux,  the  which  were  high  stakes, 
bound  with  iron  and  sharp  pointed,  which  they 
used  ever  to  bear  with  them  in  their  war  ;  and  so 
they  set  them  before  their  battle,  and  closed  them- 
selves within  them  ;  and  in  this  estate  the  three 
squires  that  were  sent  from  the  Earl  to  see  their 
demeaning  found  them  ;  for  they  approached  so 
near  that  they  might  well  aview  them,  for  they 
came  just  to  their  stakes  ;  but  the  Ghentois  never 
stirred  for  all  them,  but  let  them  alone,  and  made 


k* 


42 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


semblant  that  they  were  right  joyful  of  their 
coming. 

"  Then  these  courriers  rode  to  Bruges  to  the 
Earl,  and  found  him  in  his  lodging,  with  a  great 
number  of  knights  and  squires  with  him  ;  so  they 
came  through  the  press  to  the  Earl,  and  they 
spake  out  loud,  because  the  Earl  would  they 
should  be  heard  ;  and  so  there  they  showed  how 
they  had  ridden  so  near  to  the  Ghentois  that  they 
might  have  shot  at  them  if  they  had  Ust,  but 
they  suffered  them  to  pass  peaceably  ;  and  also 
they  showed  how  they  had  seen  their  banners. 
Then  the  Earl  demanded  what  number  of  people 
they  were  by  estimation  ;  they  answered,  that 
surely  as  they  could  descry,  they  passed  not  a  five 
or  six  thousand.  Then  the  Earl  said,  '  Well,  let 
every  man  apparel  himself,  I  will  go  fight  with 
them  ;  they  shall  not  depart  without  battle.' 
And  therewith  the  trumpets  did  sound  through 
Bruges,  and  then  every  man  armed  him,  and 
assembled  in  the  market  place,  and  set  themselves 
in  order  with  their  banners,  as  was  the  usage. 
And  before  the  Earl's  lodging  assembled  lords, 
knights,  and  squires. 

"  When  everything  was  ready  then  the  Earl  went 
to  the  market  place  and  saw  there  great  number  of 
people  well  ordered  and  arranged,  whereof  he  re- 
joiced ;  and  so  at  his  commandment  every  man 
drew  in  good  order  into  the  fields.  It  was  great 
pleasure  to  behold  them  ;  they  were  a  forty  thou- 


I 


{ 


■* 


i 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


43 


sand  armed  men,  and  so,  what  a-horseback  and 
afoot,  they  came  near  to  the  place  where  the 
Ghentois  were,  and  there  they  rested  ;  and  by  that 
time  that  the  Earl  was  come  thither,  it  was  past 
noon  and  the  sun  began  to  decline.  Then  some  said 
to  the  Earl,  '  Sir,  ye  see  yonder  your  enemies,  they 
be  but  a  handful  of  men,  as  to  the  regard  of  your 
company,  and  sir,  they  cannot  fly  away  ;  we 
would  counsel  you  not  to  fight  with  them  this 
night,  let  them  alone  till  to-morrow,  and  sir, 
thereby  ye  shall  see  what  they  will  do  ;  they 
shall  be  feebler  than  they  be  now,  for  they  have 
nothing  to  eat.'  The  Earl  accorded  well  to  that 
counsel,  and  would  that  it  should  so  have  been 
done  ;  but  they  of  Bruges  were  so  hot  and  hasty 
to  fight,  that  they  would  not  abide,  but  said,  set 
on  them,  they  shall  not  long  endure  ;  and  so  then 
they  of  Bruges  began  to  shoot  guns  at  them  ;  and 
then  they  of  Ghent  discharged  at  once  three 
hundred  guns  at  one  shot,  and  so  turned  about 
the  plash  of  water,  and  caused  the  sun  to  be  in 
the  eyes  of  them  of  Bruges,  the  which  grieved 
them  sore,  and  so  entered  in  among  them  and 
cried  *  Ghent  '  ;  and  as  soon  as  they  of  Bruges 
heard  them  cry  '  Ghent '  and  heard  so  many  guns 
come  in  among  them,  and  saw  how  they  set  full 
front  on  them,  like  false-hearted  people  and  of 
evil  courage,  they  gave  way  to  the  Ghentois  to 
enter  in  among  them  ;  and  so  without  any  defence 
they  cast  down  their  weapons  and  turned  their 


i 


i 


44 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


backs  ;  then  the  Ghentois,  seeing  well  how  their 
enemies  were  discomfited,  kept  themselves  still 
close  together,  and  beat  down  on  both  sides  and 
before  them,  and  ever  went  forth  crying  '  Ghent  *  ; 
saying  also,  '  Follow,  follow,  our  enemies  are 
discomfited,  and  let  us  enter  into  Bruges  with 
them  ;  God  hath  regarded  us  this  evening  by  his 
pity.'  And  as  they  said,  so  they  did,  for  they 
pursued  them  of  Bruges  sharply  ;  and  as  they 
overtook  them  they  slew  them,  and  tarried  not, 
but  kept  on  still  their  way,  and  ever  they  of 
Bruges  fled  on  before  :  there  were  many  slain 
and  beaten  down,  for  among  them  of  Bruges 
there  was  no  defence. 

"  I  trow  there  was  never  so  unhappy  people, 
nor  more  recreantly  maintained  themselves,  for 
all  the  great  pride  and  bobance  that  they  were 
of  before.  Some  would  think  and  suppose  by 
imagination  that  there  had  been  some  treason, 
the  which  was  not  so  ;  it  was  none  other  but 
their  simple  defence  and  evil  fortune  that  fell  on 
them. 

"  When  the  Earl  of  Flanders  and  the  company 
that  was  about  him  saw  the  evil  order  and  rule 
of  them  of  Bruges,  and  saw  how  they  were 
discomfited  by  their  own  folly,  and  could  see  no 
recoverance,  for  they  fled  away  before  the 
Ghentois,  the  Earl  then  was  abashed,  and  all  they 
that  were  about  him,  and  so  discomfited,  that 
they  fled  away,  every  man  to  save  himself.     Of  a 


i 


i 


n 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


45 


truth,  if  they  of  Bruges  would  have  returned 
again,  and  assailed  the  Ghentois  with  their  help, 
they  had  been  likely  to  have  recovered  all  again  ; 
but  they  saw  no  remedy,  for  they  fled  towards 
Bruges  as  fast  as  they  might ;  the  father  tarried 
not  for  the  son,  nor  the  son  for  the  father. 

"  So  then  the  men  of  arms  and  all  brake  their 
array,  but  they  had  no  list  to  take  the  way  to 
Bruges :  the  press  was  so  great  in  the  way 
towards  Bruges,  that  it  was  marvel  to  see  and 
to  hear  the  clamour  and  cry  of  them  that  were 
slain  and  hurt ;  and  the  Ghentois  following  them 
of  Bruges,  crying  '  Ghent,  Ghent,'  still  going 
forward,  and  beating  down  of  people.  The  most 
part  of  the  men  of  arms  would  not  put  themselves 
in  that  peril ;  howbeit,  the  Earl  was  counselled 
to  draw  to  Bruges,  and  to  be  one  of  the  first  that 
should  enter,  and  then  to  close  the  gates,  to  the 
intent  that  the  Ghentois  should  not  be  lords  of 
Bruges.  The  Earl  seeing  none  other  remedy,  nor 
no  recoverance  by  abiding  in  the  field,  for  he  saw 
well  every  man  fled,  and  also  it  was  dark  night, 
wherefore  he  believed  the  counsel  that  was  given 
him,  and  so  took  the  way  toward  Bruges,  with  his 
banner  before  him,  and  so  came  to  the  gate,  and 
entered  with  the  first  and  a  forty  with  him. 
Then  he  set  men  to  keep  the  gate,  and  to  close  it 
if  the  Ghentois  did  follow  :  then  the  Earl  rode  to 
his  own  lodging,  and  sent  all  about  the  town, 
commanding  every  man,  on  pain  of  death,  to 


46 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


47 


draw  to  the  market  place.  The  intention  of  the 
Earl  was  to  recover  the  town  by  that  means  ; 
but  he  did  not,  as  ye  shall  hear  after." 


VII. 

Froissart  goes  on  : — 

"  In  the  meantime  that  the  Earl  was  at  his 
lodging,  and  sent  forth  the  clerks  of  every  ward 
from  street  to  street,  to  have  every  man  to  draw 
to  the  market  place,  to  recover  the  town.     The 
Ghentois  pursued  so  fiercely  their  enemies,  that 
they  entered  into  the  town  with  them  of  Bruges  ; 
and  as  soon  as  they  were  within  the  town,  the 
first  thing  they  did,  they  went  straight  to  the 
market  place,  and  there  set  themselves  in  array. 
The  Earl  then  had  sent  a  knight  of  his  called  Sir 
Robert  Marshall,  to  the  gate,  to  see  what  the 
Ghentois  did  ;   and  when  he  came  to  the  gate,  he 
found  the  gate  beaten  down,  and  the  Ghentois 
masters  thereof:    and  some  of  them  of  Bruges 
met  with  him  and  said,  '  Sir  Robert,  return  and 
save  yourself  if  ye  can,  for  the  town  is  won  by 
them  of  Ghent.'     Then  the  knight  returned  to  the 
Earl  as  fast  as  he  might,  who  was  coming  out  of 
his  lodging  a-horseback,  with  a  great  number  of 
cressets  and  lights  with  him,  and  was  going  to 
the  market  place  ;    then  the  knight  showed  the 
Earl  all  that  he  knew  ;  howbeit,  the  Earl,  wiUing 


i 


to  recover  the  town,  drew  to  the  market  place  ; 
and  as  he  was  entering,  such  as  were  before  him, 
seeing  the  place  all  ranged  with  the  Ghentois,  said 
to  the  Earl,  *  Sir,  return  again  ;  if  ye  go  any 
farther,  ye  are  but  dead,  or  taken  with  your 
enemies,  for  they  are  ranged  on  the  market  place, 
and  do  abide  for  you.'  They  showed  him  truth. 
And  when  the  Ghentois  saw  the  clearness  of  the 
lights  coming  down  the  street,  they  said,  *  Yonder 
cometh  the  Earl,  he  shall  come  into  our  hands.' 
And  PhiHp  van  Artevelde  had  commanded,  from 
street  to  street  as  he  went,  that  if  the  Earl  came 
among  them,  that  no  man  should  do  to  him  any 
bodily  harm,  but  take  him  ahve,  and  then  to 
have  him  to  Ghent,  and  so  to  make  their  peace 
as  they  list.  The  Earl,  who  trusted  to  have 
recovered  all,  came  right  near  to  the  place  whereas 
the  Ghentois  were.  Then  divers  of  his  men  said, 
*  Sir,  go  no  farther,  for  the  Ghentois  are  lords  of 
the  market  place  and  of  the  town  ;  if  ye  enter 
into  the  market  place,  ye  are  in  danger  to  be 
slain  or  taken  :  a  great  number  of  the  Ghentois 
are  going  from  street  to  street,  seeking  for  their 
enemies  :  they  have  certain  of  them  of  the  town 
with  them,  to  bring  them  from  house  to  house, 
whereas  they  would  be  :  and  sir,  out  at  any  of 
the  gates  ye  cannot  issue,  for  the  Ghentois  are 
lords  thereof ;  nor  to  your  own  lodging  ye 
cannot  return,  for  a  great  number  of  the  Ghentois 
are  going  thither.' 


A 


.1' 


pIliiwfllffWBiJfc- 


dhM 


utaa 


u^jfauiriariwi 


48 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


"  And    when    the    Earl   heard    those    tidings, 
which  were  right  hard  to  him,  as  it  was  reason, 
he  was  greatly  then  abashed,  and  imagined  what 
peril  he  was  in  :    then  he  believed  the  counsel, 
and  would  go  no  farther,  but  to  save  himself  if  he 
might,  and  so  took  his  own  counsel :    he  com- 
manded to  put  out  all  the  lights,  ana  said  to  them 
that   were   about   him,    I   see   well   there   is   no 
recovery  ;    let  every  man  depart,  and  save  him- 
self as  he  may.     And  as  he  commanded  it  was 
done  :    the  hghts  were  quenched  and  cast  into 
the  streets,   and  so  every  man  departed.     The 
Earl  then  went  into  a  back  lane,  and  made  a 
varlet  of  his  to  unarm  him,  and  did  cast  away 
his  armour,  and  put  on  an  old  cloak  of  his  varlet's, 
and  then  said  to  him,  '  Go  thy  way  from  me,  and 
save  thyself  if  thou  canst,  and  have  a  good  tongue, 
an  thou  fall  in  the  hands  of  thine  enemies  ;   and 
if  they  ask  thee  anything  of  me,  be  it  not  known 
that  I  am  in  the  town.'     He  answered  and  said, 
*  Sir,  to  die  therefor,  I  will  speak  no  word  of  you.' 

"  Thus  abode  there  the  Earl  of  Flanders  all 
alone  ;  he  might  then  well  say  that  he  was  in 
great  danger  and  hard  adventure,  for  at  that 
time,  if  he  had  fallen  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies, 
he  had  been  in  danger  of  death  :  for  the  Ghentois 
went  from  house  to  house,  searching  for  the  Earl's 
friends  ;  and  ever  as  they  found  any  they  brought 
them  into  the  market  place,  and  there  without 
remedy,   before  Philip  van   Artevelde  and  the 


F 

I 


i 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


49 


captains,  they  were  put  to  death  ;*  so  God  was 
friend  to  the  Earl,  to  save  him  out  of  that  peril ; 
he  was  never  in  such  danger  before  in  his  life  nor 
never  after,  as  ye  shall  hear  after  in  this  history. 

"  Thus  about  the  hour  of  midnight  the  Earl 
went  from  street  to  street,  and  by  back  lanes,  so 
that  at  last  he  was  fain  to  take  a  house,  or  else 
he  had  been  found  by  them  of  Ghent ;  and  so  as 
he  went  about  the  town  he  entered  into  a  poor 
woman's  house,  the  which  was  not  meet  for  such 
a  lord ;  there  was  neither  hall,  palace,  nor 
chamber  ;  it  was  but  a  poor  smoky  house  ;  there 
was  nothing  but  a  poor  hall,  black  with  smoke, 
and  above  a  small  plancher,  and  a  ladder  of  eight 
steps  to  mount  upon  ;  and  on  the  plancher  there 
was  a  poor  couch,  whereas  the  poor  woman's 
children  lay.  Then  the  Earl,  sore  abashed  and 
trembling  at  his  entering,  said,  *  O  good  woman, 
save  me  ;  I  am  thy  lord  the  Earl  of  Flanders  ; 
but  now  I  must  hide  me,  for  mine  enemies  chase 
me,  and  if  ye  do  me  good  now,  I  shall  reward  you 
hereafter  therefor.' 

"  The  poor  woman  knew  him  well,  for  she  had 
been  oftentimes  at  his  gate  to  fetch  alms,  and  had 
often  seen  him  as  he  went  in  and  out  a-sporting  ; 
and  so  incontinent  as  hap  was  she  answered  ; 
for  if  she  had  made  any  delay,  he  had  been  taken 

*  Later  on  Froissart  gives  us  quite  another  account  of  the 
behaviour  of  the  Ghentois  and  tells  that  they  acted  with  great 
moderation. 


\ 


1 


50 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


talking  with  her  by  the  fire.  Then  she  said,  '  Sir, 
mount  up  this  ladder,  and  lay  yourself  under  the 
bed  that  ye  find  thereas  my  children  sleep.'  And 
so  in  the  meantime  the  woman  sat  down  by  the 
fire  with  another  child  that  she  had  in  her  arms  ; 
so  the  Earl  mounted  up  the  plancher  as  well  as 
he  might,  and  crept  in  between  the  couch  and  the 
straw,  and  lay  as  flat  as  he  could  ;  and  even  there- 
with, some  of  the  ritters  of  Ghent  entered  into  the 
same  house,  for  some  of  them  said  how  they  had 
seen  a  man  enter  into  the  house  before  them  ; 
and  so  they  found  the  woman  sitting  by  the  fire 
with  her  child  ;  then  they  said,  '  Good  woman, 
where  is  the  man  that  we  saw  enter  before  us  into 
the  house,  and  did  shut  the  door  after  him  ?  ' 
*  Sirs,'  quoth  she,  '  I  saw  no  man  enter  into  this 
house  this  night ;  I  went  out  right  now  and  cast 
out  a  httle  water,  and  did  close  my  door  again  ;  if 
any  were  here,  I  could  not  tell  you  how  to  hide 
him  ;  ye  see  all  the  easement  that  I  have  in  this 
house  ;  here  ye  may  see  my  bed,  and  here  above 
this  plancher  heth  my  poor  children.'  Then  one 
of  them  took  a  candle  and  mounted  up  the  ladder, 
and  put  up  his  head  above  the  plancher,  and  saw 
there  none  other  thing  than  the  poor  couch,  where 
her  children  lay  and  slept ;  and  so  he  looked  all 
about,  and  then  said  to  his  company,  '  Go  we 
hence,  we  lose  the  more  for  the  less  ;  the  poor 
woman  saith  truth,  here  is  no  creature  but  she  and 
her  children  ' ;  and  then  they  departed  out  of  the 


1 


1 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


51 


house  ;  after  that  there  was  none  entered  to  do 
any  hurt.  All  these  words  the  Earl  heard  right 
well  where  he  lay  under  the  poor  couch  ;  ye  may 
well  imagine  then  that  he  was  in  great  fear  of  his 
life  ;  he  might  well  say,  I  am  now  as  one  of  the 
poorest  princes  of  the  world,  and  might  well  say, 
that  the  fortunes  of  the  world  are  nothing  stable  ; 
yet  it  was  a  good  hap  that  he  'scaped  with  his 
life  ;  howbeit,  this  hard  and  perilous  adventure 
might  well  be  to  him  a  spectacle  all  his  after  hfe, 
and  an  ensample  to  all  other." 

If  you  are  anxious  about  the  fate  of  the  Earl 
I  may  tell  you  that  he  escaped.  For  my  part,  I 
have  always  felt  more  anxious  for  the  fate  of  the 
poor  woman  and  her  children,  and  can  only  hope 
that  they  came  to  some  good  by  the  wild  changes 
that  were  going  on  round  about  them,  though,  alas, 
I  doubt  it ;  and  I  ask  you  to  look  upon  them  as  a 
kind  of  symbol  of  the  lowest  order  of  the  people  ; 
of  the  proletariat,  of  which  in  the  middle  ages  we 
know  so  little,  and  of  which  in  modern  times  there 
are  many  people  who  would  be  pleased  to  know 
nothing,  but  whom  we  have  got  to  look  on  now 
as  the  friends  who  are  to  turn  war  into  peace  and 
grudging  into  goodwill. 


52 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 
VIII. 


4 


The  Ghentmen  bore  their  victory  well ;  there 
was  no  pillage  of  Bruges,  and  they  took  pains  to 
distinguish  friend  from  foe,  sending,  indeed,  five 
hundred  of  the  notablest  burgesses  as  hostages  to 
Ghent,  and  levelling  the  walls,  but  doing  no  more 
harm  there  to  persons  and  things. 

Almost  all  Flanders  fell  to  the  victors  at  once  ; 
and  if  the  Flemish  victory  had  happened  twenty 
years  before,  it  is  probable  that  Philip  van  Arte- 
velde  might  have  ruled  Flanders  longer  than  his 
father  did.  But  while  the  craft-guilds  and  the 
emancipated  serfs  were  growing  in  wealth  and 
prosperity,  and  the  former  at  least  into  corrup- 
tion, the  spirit  of  monarchical  bureaucracy  was 
growing  also,  and  had  to  hold  out  a  hand  to  the 
corruption  within  the  crafts  in  order  to  make  an 
end  of  the  communistic  spirit  which  had  sustained 
itself  throughout  the  earher  period  of  their 
struggle,  while  the  workmen  were  all  real  work- 
men. Once  again  it  is  clear  to  me  that  the  pre- 
sence in  our  history  of  the  great  burgesses  who 
led  this  revolt,  their  power  and  riches,  are  signs 
that  the  corruption  of  the  guilds  had  begun  ;  and 
in  no  case  could  a  true  social  revolution  have  been 
won  in  the  Flemish  mediaeval  cities.  The  valour 
and  conduct  of  the  guildsmen  of  Ghent  was  indeed 
a  link  in  the  revolution  of  the  middle-class  whose 
final  triumph  is  so  recent,  and  they  could  no  more 


1 


I 


i 


**j 


I 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


53 


have  sustained  a  set  of  quasi-republican  municipal 
republics  lying  between  Germany  and  France, 
than  the  Jacobins  of  the  French  Revolution  could 
have  sustained  their  ideal  republic  of  property  for 
some,  happiness,  peace,  and  virtue  for  all,  as  a 
result  of  the  ultimate  corruption  and  fall  of 
feudal  privilege. 

Yet  the  extinction  of  the  revolt  of  Ghent  is  a 
sad  story,  and  I  will  hurry  through  it  in  a  few 
words. 

I  have  said  that  in  better  times  Ghent  might 
have  held  her  own  for  long.  Van  Artevelde  was 
undoubtedly  a  man  of  conduct  or  something 
more  ;  an  alliance  with  the  English  king  and  some 
yielding  to  the  French  one  might  have  staved  off 
war  and  ruin.  But  England  was  tired  of  the  French 
war,  a  fool  sat  on  her  throne,  surrounded  by 
factious  nobles  ;  and,  above  all,  her  gentlemen 
had  just  been  terrified  themselves  by  the  Peasant 
Revolt,  to  which  this  one  of  Ghent  was  clearly 
akin  ;  no  effective  English  alliance  was  to  be  had. 
As  to  France,  apart  from  the  jealousy  of  neigh- 
bours, Paris  also  had  been  alight  while  Ghent  was 
burning,  and  the  Host  of  the  Mallets  had  driven 
away  king  and  court  to  Meaux  in  Brie.  It  was 
time,  thought  the  French  king,  that  gentlemen 
should  help  gentlemen  ;  so  a  huge  French  army 
took  the  field,  and  the  fatal  day  of  Rosebeque, 
where  twenty-five  thousand  Flemings  and  their 
leader  Van  Artevelde  were  slain,  extinguished  the 


54 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


J  sovereignty  of  Ghent  for  ever.  This  took  place  in 
November,  1382. 

Peter  du  Bois  had  his  usual  luck,  though,  and 
escaped  the  slaughter  of  Rosebeque.  Entering 
into  Ghent  he  found  the  gates  open  and  the  people 
too  much  dismayed  to  make  any  defence  ;  but  a 
few  words  from  the  stout  partisan,  and  probably 
the  sight  of  his  corps  unbroken,  put  heart  into 
them  again.  The  gates  were  shut  and  they  pre- 
pared for  defence  ;  and  the  war  went  on 
with  varying  fortunes  until,  after  the  death  of  the 
then  Earl,  peace  was  made  on  terms  that  on  the 
face  seemed  not  unfavourable  to  the  town  of 
Ghent.  This  was  done  in  December,  1385.  Peter 
du  Bois  at  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  would  not 
trust  himself  within  the  reach  of  the  arms  of  the 
men  whose  rebel  he  had  been,  and  left  his  own 
country  for  England,  where  he  lived  some  years 
and  died  peaceably. 

From  that  time  onward  Ghent  played  her  part 
in  the  development  of  the  guildsmen  and  yeomen 
into  the  modern  middle-class  ;  but  the  high-tide 
of  the  progress  of  the  handicraftsmen  was  over  ; 
commerciahsm  and  bureaucracy  were  doomed  to 
come  between  the  partial  development  of  those 
ideas  of  brotherhood  and  fair  dealing  which  had 
place  in  the  mediaeval  guild,  and  the  more  inclu- 
sive ideas  of  the  destruction  of  class  distinctions 
and  the  new  birth  of  society,  which  are  stirring  us 
to-day.     But  the  times  have  brought  about  the 


4 


The  Revolt  of  Ghent. 


55 


times,  and  Ghent  still  hves,  not  only  in  the  past, 
but  in  the  present  also,  and  while  I  speak  is  taking 
a  full  share  in  the  struggle  towards  communal  life 
which  is  the  real  fact  of  modern  history.  Who 
knows  but  we  may  Hve  to  see  a  new  Revolt  of 
Ghent  on  these  new  terms  and  in  the  assured 
hope  of  well-deserved  victory. 


'  ^ 


[The  End.] 


A' 


K 


m 


\ 


* 


*/'^ ' 


,  <-, .  f'l  •? 


it  ."  :    .s 


The  Treatment  of  Robert  Burns  :    What  it 
Was,  and  W^hat  it  Ought  to  have  been.     id. 

Second  Edition. 

Written  in  an  original,  racy  and  vigorous  style,  and  shows  Mr. 
Leatham's  thorough  aquaintance  jWith  the  subject.—"  Aberdeen 
Express." 

Was  Jesus  a  Sociaust  ?     id.     Eighth  Edition. 

The    Settling    of    Britain.      Some    Neglected 

Historical    Origins  :     Economic,    Political, 

Social,  Judicial.     Second  Edition,     id. 

Very  suggestive.      Mr.   Leatham   is  especially  good  in  his 

remarks  on  Feudalism  and  the  enclosure  of  common  lands.— A. 

E.  Fletcher  in  "The  Clarion." 

What  is  the  Good  of  Empire  ?      id.      Second 

Edition. 

Written  in  excellent  style,  and  forcibly  argued—"  Labour 
Leader." 

The  Place  of  the  Novel,     id.     Second  Edition. 

A  vigorous  protest  against  the  absorbing  inter.-^st  in  the  novel 
manifested  by  the  reading  public,  and  a  vigorous  protest,  too, 
Against  the  comparative  worthlessness  of  the  average  work  of 
tiction.  .  .  .  Well  worth  perusal  and  study— an.J  attention 
to.— "Free  Press." 

Like  everything  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Jamei>  Leatham,  there  is 
about  it  a  freshness  of  thought  and  an  indepeudance  of  all 
stereotyped  styles  of  expression.—"  Fraserburgh  Herald." 

Robert  Burns  ;    Scotland's  Man,      id.     Second 

Edition. 
Racy,  pungent,  and  enthusiastic.—"  Aberdeen  Journal." 


THE  BIJOU  REPRINTS. 

Sixteen  pp.,  in  neat  wrapper,  id.  each. 
A  King's  Lesson.     By  Wilham  Morns. 
Under  an  Elm-Tree.     By  William  Morris. 

Songs  for  Socialists.    45  Songs,    id.    The  tunes 

given. 
The  Soldier's  Bible.      A  clever  homily  on  the 

pack  of  cards.      Handy  pocket  size.      |d.      13 

copies,  post  free,  5d. 
Jones's    Boy.         Dialogues    between    an    enfant 

teirible  and  his  father,     id. 


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